Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Hello all! Can you believe this is update #5?

I’m still alive and kicking, and the emails are getting a bit more infrequent, for good reason, I’m back to living the working life. It’s been an interesting journey, getting here, getting settled, finding a job, etc. Once all that happens, well, it’s kind of like real life again. You go to work and you hang out with friends to enjoy good drinks, food and good times! So once I start up my traveling and sight seeing again I’m sure I’ll be back to sending a few more emails.

I did a bit of sight seeing during my week off the beginning of November. My Canadian friend Tracy and I went to a coastal town called Bray which isn’t too far out of Dublin and easily accessible by train. We took a hike along the ocean and went up to Bray’s Head which is a smaller hill with a nice view. By far the highlight (besides the great company) was the fish and chips! It was the best fish and chips I’ve had in Ireland, I think the fish had been caught that day. I’m even considering going back just for the fish and chips. I did another trip solo in Howth and took in the coastal hike there as well, it was another great day weather wise. The sun was shining and I was out walking in my T-Shirt in November!

The weather here has been pretty good! I’ve been told by the locals that it’s been pretty mild. I really did pick the right year to do this, I hear from friends and family that winter hit the prairies early this year. The temperatures back home are hitting -30 Celsius and they’re getting tons of snow. It’s been averaging between 10 and 15 degrees here in Dublin and not raining as much as it usually does, although last night and today there’s some sort of a torrential rain storm.

I’ve been keeping busy meeting up with a few more Canadians and socializing with the people I work with. We had an in-service day the other week to teach current teachers about the new drama curriculum. In a room of the 22 teachers from our school I’m the only male, even the instructor running the session was female. The staff at my school are pretty amazing, a great mix of new and experienced teachers. I’ve asked a few of them if the lack of male primary teachers here is a recent trend or if its always been that way. There have always been more female primary teachers than male but more recently less and less males are entering the profession. Back in Canada the elementary teaching profession has mostly been dominated by females, the ratio here in Ireland is less.

Hanging out with the girls from work is always entertaining and educational! I was invited over to the one of my colleagues houses yesterday to have a few drinks before we all went out to our Christmas party. I sat back, enjoyed some wine and chatted a bit but mostly was observing girls panicking over their hair, make up and what to wear. I’m making some interesting observations and getting a fascinating insight into the female psyche. We went to a place called the Dandelion Bar for our Christmas party last night. There are 2 levels there, the main floor for dining and the basement for hitting the night club scene. We had an amazing meal (the best steak I’ve had in Dublin) and after made our way downstairs for some dancing and drinks, it was a blast!

You’re probably wondering about my title, decisions. It was Friday I had to let the school know if I was going to stay on longer or be done at Christmas. The principal talked to me a month ago about staying at the school until June. I figured when the time came I would just know, unfortunately I didn’t! I talked with a lot of friends to get their opinions and tried my best to weigh the pros and cons. I’m enjoying my time at the school, teaching special needs is both challenging and rewarding. I’m finding at the end of the day I’m absolutely exhausted, it’s not like I can assign a task to the students and they can carry it out you have to be working with them at all times. I have 2 SNA’s (Special Needs Assistants) working with me, and they are amazing I would be lost without them. For me this year is about self reflection, learning and traveling. I came here wanting to experience many different schools in Dublin and also get the opportunity to teach mainstream here as well. I did get a small taste of that when I subbed for a few weeks prior to getting this job, and it was great! But it was also frustrating not knowing where you are going to be working or even if you will be working that day.

My final decision regarding staying or leaving the school was made after talking to colleagues. My thoughts were if I left the school I could easily sub teach for a while and then get another short contract. I even got a call from a school that I interviewed at before getting the job here and he said he’s looking for someone to teach until Christmas and then a few months after. He didn’t say for sure if the job would be available in the new year but did say that he would call me and see what I was doing in January. I decided I can’t really rely on working for that principal because when I went for my interview there in September he had already hired someone before I even got there and only informed me when I arrived. The girls at work told me that it’s very hard to get subbing jobs in January and February so that helped sway my decision more to one side. I told my principal that I would stay until Easter (which gives me another week off paid in Feb and 2 weeks off paid at Easter) and that if I decided I’d like to stay until June she asked me to let her know by March 1. If I stay until June I would be getting paid over the 2 month summer as well.

So we’ll see, I’m thinking a bit of security cash wise isn’t a bad thing. I’ve got plenty of time to travel during my breaks and over the long weekends. One of my good friends Patrick is planning on traveling through Europe over the summer so I’ll leave my place here in Dublin and go back to the hostel living backpacking adventure through Europe!

Take care everybody,
Stephen

P.S. Can you believe I turn 32 today?

P.P.S.S. I should also mention I won 2 free drinks for singing Karaoke Friday night at a place called Wool Shed! Good times!